11 policemen die in India land-mine blast

NEW DELHI, June 10 (UPI) -- A police patrol riding in a vehicle was hit by a land-mine blast Wednesday in India, leaving 11 officers dead, police said.

Six others were injured in the explosion in the Serengda Aruanga village in the eastern state of Jharkhand where Indian Maoists and Naxalite rebels are active.

Maoists are suspected of the attack, the Press Trust of India reported.

The report quoted Police Chief V.D. Ram as saying a joint team of police and reserves was returning in a small truck after two days of patrolling in the region when it was hit by the blast.

The rebels have been fighting for years for communist rule in several Indian states.